Technical Field
The invention relates to the textile industry, and more particularly to applying a marking or a decorative motif onto a textile article by using the heat transfer technique. The invention is more particularly applicable to the sectors of clothing, footwear, leather goods, sports articles, or advertising articles.
Description of Related Art
In those sectors, or for other applications, it is known that markings or decorations can be formed on textile articles by using a heat transfer technique.
For that purpose, transfer films are generally used that are heat-fusible, that are pre-cut to the shape of the marking or of the motif to be applied, that are placed on the textile, and that are fused, thereto by being heated by means of a smoothing iron or more preferably by means of a heater platen press.
Such “heat transfer” decoration products are conventionally in the form of a flat and single-layer film, of homogeneous composition.
Some of them are dyed in the mass, and are therefore single-color products. Only appropriate cutting out then makes it possible to obtain a variety of motifs.
Others can be printed digitally by special ink-jet machines, and then cut out, which makes it possible to obtain much more varied multicolor motifs. Conversely, the resulting decorations remain flat and without any relief.
Heat-transferable multicolor decorative complexes are also known, such as, for example, those described in the Applicant's prior patent applications EP 2 298 985 and EP 2 425 050, that comprise a plurality of superposed technical layers, e.g. a backing layer, a colored (decorative) layer, an opacifying layer, and a heat-fusible layer.
However, those layers are of very fine thickness in the manner of a film, and the overall thickness of the resulting multilayer complex remains very small. In addition, the decorative effect is limited to a single layer, referred to as the “colored layer”. After it has been transferred onto to the textile, the resulting decoration is therefore flat and without relief.
Transferable decorations that have relief, flocking, for example, are known that are single-layer and monochromatic.
Document GB 2 329 348 also discloses a multilayer motif that has relief, and that must be fastened to a garment by high-frequency welding.
That motif is constituted by a lower layer that is made of PVC, polyurethane, or acrylic, that does not contain any plasticizer, and that is placed against the garment during fastening to the fabric, by an intermediate layer made of expanded PVC to give relief to the resulting assembly, and by an upper layer made of non-expanded PVC that can be flocked electrostatically.
The lower layer, which is optionally based on polyurethane, has the function of preventing the dyestuff from migrating from the garment to the motif. It is not a printable decorative layer, but rather it is an impermeable protective barrier that must be placed between the fabric and the PVC motif so as to perform its role as a barrier. With that method as described, the lower layer must be placed against the fabric and it is therefore not visible once the transfer has been made.
In addition, the expansion of the PVC intermediate layer takes place while it is being manufactured, before it is applied to the garment. The resulting motif is already in relief, and cannot therefore be printed subsequently to it being manufactured.
Single-layer products are also known that are expandable upon application of heat, and that swell in the transfer press. The resulting decorations are in relief, but they remain single-color. When it is attempted to print them prior to them being transferred, the subsequent swelling of the material causes the color rendering to be attenuated, with the colors then becoming pale, and the drawing or design being imprecise, giving the resulting decoration an appearance that is not aesthetically pleasing.
Finally, Application WO 00/15444 discloses a transfer element that comprises a layer that is expandable upon application of heat and that is made of plastisol or of puff ink, and a larger transfer sheet that is heat-fusible, or that bears a material that is adherable upon application of heat.
That transfer element is placed inside a garment, its expandable layer being applied against the non-visible inside face of the garment, and being interposed between the fabric and the transfer sheet, and then the resulting assembly is heated by a press. The edges of the transfer sheet adhere to the garment, and the expandable layer swells, thereby forming relief that is visible through the garment.
With such a transfer method, none of the layers of the element are visible after the transfer, because they are all situated under the garment. A relief effect can only be obtained through the textile. It is therefore impossible to achieve a decorative layer, in particular a printable layer, that is visible on the front face of the textile once the transfer has been made. Similarly, it is impossible to obtain a border. In addition, the transfer element described does not have any polyurethane-based layer.